Changes to S Pass Qualifying Criteria

As part of the government’s effort to reduce reliance on foreign manpower, and to spur local companies towards achieving greater productivity gains, the qualifying criteria for S-Pass holders will be revised from 1 July 2013.

Commencing 1 July 2013, the qualifying salary for S-Pass holders will be raised from $2,000 to $2,200.

At the same time, a new tiered system requiring employers to pay higher salaries for S-Pass holders who have better qualifications and more years of work experience has been introduced. Details of the tiered system will not be released by the Ministry of Manpower, although it is expected that the self-assessment tool will be updated to reflect teh more stringent qualifying criteria.

The Ministry of Manpower estimates that about 70,000 S-Pass holders will be impacted by this.

An S Pass allows mid-skilled foreigners to work in Singapore. S Pass applications are assessed on multiple criteria, including salary, education qualification, skills, job type and work experience. The minimum qualifying salary for S Pass applicants has been revised to $2,200. There are currently about 142,400 S-Pass workers in Singapore in Dec 2012.

Information is correct at time of publication. More information can be found at the Ministry of Manpower’s website www.mom.gov.sg